hour five o'clock having arrived on this third of August twenty twenty six it is
my honor to call the order of the executive committee of the city of
Racine the first order of business is actually the approval of minutes for
the July 13th twenty twenty six meeting this is item zero six six five dash two
six communication sponsored by mary mason alder Weiss and alder pebone
presenting proposed ordinance zero zero four dash two six regarding
immigration enforcement
but before before we get to that item I do need a motion to approve the July
13th minutes that are scheduled here is their motion to approve seven minutes
some motion and a second to approve the July 13th minutes any discussion on
the July 13th minutes all those in favor of the July 13th minutes please say I
opposed that motion carries we then move on to the item before us again we've had
the opportunity for people to sign in what I'm going to do first is just give
some discussion about where where this ordinance came from and how we got to
this space and then we will open it up for the opportunity to the city attorney
just to explain his briefing memo briefly on it and then we will take
public input from it and have a discussion amongst there so I want to
begin tonight just by thanking those in the community that have been advocating
for the city to take a position on the unprecedented and and really
can deeply concerning actions that we've seen by the federal government and
their aggressive enforcement tactics the city of Racine is blessed to be a
diverse community and unless you're from the Potawatomi nation all of our
families have some sort of immigrant story from somewhere so it's really
important that I think that we recognize the diversity of our community and how
the potential impact could occur here we're also a community that our Latino
or Hispanic population is about 25% of city residents and it's also the fastest
growing part of our population so this is not a small part of our community that
would be impacted by these federal policies that are outgoing are that are
ongoing right now these federal policies have created a culture of fear
families fear venturing outside their homes they're afraid to interact with
government officials the other reason I think it's important for the city to
have some position on this is oftentimes people look at government as just one
big thing right they don't always make the distinction between well the city
government does this and the state government does that and the federal
government does this other thing and so I think it's important that the city has
a position that stands in distinction from what a federal policy might be and
gives a clear indication to our residents about where we stand on
immigration enforcement tomorrow we will celebrate National Night Out and it's a
great opportunity for the city to be part of a number of events across the city
where the community works hand-in-hand with law enforcement and it's really an
indication of our public trust and confidence that our local police
forces developed over the years with people who live here throughout
neighborhoods we have a community oriented policing philosophy here that
has served our community well for decades that often gets diminished or
tarnished if deep nature that gets diminished when we have that kind of
heavy-handed enforcement it's also informed frankly by what we've seen in
other cities in the last year you know further long ago up in the Twin Cities
but more recently in Maine and other places where this kind of enforcement
practice from Chicago to the Twin Cities to Maine has been deeply deeply
concerning and the last I guess context that I will put in context of it is that
you will hear a lot of discussion about how city law can work with federal law
and how federal law has some supremacy over it and the limits to what a city
can do but I do think the discussion we're gonna have tonight is gonna be an
important part of laying out what the city's view of that kind of enforcement
would be we're celebrating our 250th anniversary as a country and a lot of
that celebration is looking back on our founding documents and how wonderful
they are but how incomplete they were when they were passed into law and if
you go down to Monument Square you'll see a historical marker there that is
dedicated to Joshua Glover right now Joshua Glover was an escaped slave who
was living in Racine Wisconsin who was found by bounty hunters in the 1850s
who under federal law because he was considered property by the federal
government needed to be returned to his slave owners and in that time Racine
residents actually broke him out of jail and got him on a boat and sent him on
to freedom in Canada because that was a place where they didn't have slavery and
that sort of fugitive slave act wasn't accepted but the follow-up to that story
is Racine and then the broader state of Wisconsin really rejected those federal
policies that said that humans were properties and that and that they the
federal government could use extraordinary opportunities to use those kind of
enforcements as we see the federal government talking about needing to meet
quotas that they expect to meet on an ongoing basis and that the environment
of fear that that is creating in our neighborhoods I think it's really
important that today we take a stand in contrast to what the federal government
is doing and establish that our position is that we are a community of immigrants
where you are loved and where you're valued and that you have a right to
experience the American dream the way previous immigrants and generations
before have the opportunity to do so so thank you for giving me the opportunity
to make those comments before we begin
with that I will ask the city attorney just to go through his briefing memo on
the ordinance as we have it before us
thank you Mr. Mayor the proposed ordinance 0.04-26 would create chapter 63 of the
city of Racine Ordinances to include nine sections six of which are substantive
with regard to the topic of immigration enforcement the first section is a
policy declaration laying out the policy the city of Racine common
council would be declaring second section sets forth relevant definitions
to be used when interpreting and using this particular chapter the third
provision declares or provides that excuse me identifies practices the city
Racine will engage in to assure municipal resources are not used to
subsidize federal civil immigration enforcement activities this ordinance I
will emphasize is related to civil immigration enforcement activities under
section 63-3 unless an individual needs to be investigated for purposes of
determining whether there is a criminal warrant conviction or pending
case for a felony or as a known gang member or if compliance is required by
federal state statute or cooperation is reasonably necessary to protect against
an imminent threat to public safety or prevent death or serious bodily harm
no city officer employer agent may detain arrest continue to detain a person
solely on the belief that that person is not present legally in the United
States or that that person has committed a civil immigration violation may not
arrest detain or continue to detain a person based solely upon an
administrative warrant issued for an alleged civil immigration violation or
detain or continue to detain a person based upon an immigration
detainer when such immigration detainer is based solely on a violation of civil
immigration law moreover unless there is a legitimate law enforcement purpose
unrelated to the enforcement of civil immigration law no city officer or
employer agent may provide personnel equipment facilities or other municipal
resources to facilitate access by an immigration authority beyond that
required by federal or state law or judicial process may not make municipal
facilities available for activities undertaken primarily for civil immigration
enforcement except where otherwise required by law or authorized by a written
agreement approved by the common council or some other lawful authority may not
expend municipal resources primarily to assist in civil immigration
enforcement unless such assistance assistance is required by federal or
state law or judicial process or is reasonably necessary to accomplish a
legitimate law enforcement objective or when voluntarily approved by the chief
of police or other authorized city official when it is in furtherance of a
legitimate municipal public safety objective the next section generally
prohibits the use of city property that is not open to the public without
restriction for civil immigration enforcement activities the city can
make restrictions on areas that are deemed not deemed open to the public the
prohibited ordinance would restrict certain areas of the city from being
used as staging areas for civil immigration enforcement a staging area
means an area that is used to assemble mobilize and deploy vehicles and equipment
or materials and related personnel for the purpose of carrying out civil
immigration enforcement operations the restriction would apply to non-public
areas of city owned or controlled buildings that are not accessible to
the public as well as city owned or controlled parking lots ramps vacant
lots of parks and garages this restriction would not apply if there were
to be a court order or a federal or state law permits such activity the next
section section proposed section 63.5 generally restricts the use of face
coverings by law enforcement while performing duties this would apply to
all law enforcement personnel irrespective of whether they're local
state or federal there are exceptions for undercover operations when there is a
safety need or when reasonably necessary to address an imminent threat to safety
when practicable and consistent with safety a law enforcement officer wearing
a face covering shall have the officers affiliation and badge number or other
unique identifier displayed the next section proposed section 63-6 would
designate the city ever seen as a safe space for immigrant immigration
enforcement purposes the proposed ordinance states of the city to the
extent permitted by applicable federal and state law shall prioritize the use
of municipal resources for municipal purposes and public safety objectives
proposed ordinance identifies practices that the city will use to prioritize
municipal resources for municipal purposes and assure residents that
their immigration status will not unnecessarily be sought or used overall
city officers employees or agents will not request information about or
otherwise investigate or assist in the investigation of the citizenship or
immigration status of any person shall not disclose information regarding the
citizenship or immigration status of any person unless authorized shall not
condition the provision of city benefits opportunities or services on matters
related to citizenship or immigration status as a whole the ordinance
establishes local rules regarding when city employees may participate in civil
immigration enforcement while expressly recognizing that the city will comply
with all federal and state laws and lawful court orders in general that's
what the ordinance provides well now we'll move on to public comment before we do
if you can pull it up on the screen there's a clock that will appear on the
screen we do have 20 people here to offer public input which we're glad to have
people signed up to do so you're each given three minutes that would take the
better part of an hour which I'm happy to hear but I just want to ask people if
you are here you're not required to take your full three minutes but if you do
take your three minutes do know that your microphone gets turned off after three
minutes that is not a reflection on what you are saying rather is an attempt to
treat everybody fairly and give everyone up to three minutes so if the clerk could
please call the first person signed up to offer public input on this and we will
begin our first speaker tonight will be Alan Levy
thank you my name is Alan Levy I live at 421 William Street I'm a member of
Vosas de la frontetta and also affiliated with yes but I'm speaking as an individual
first I would like to applaud the coalition that helped put this together
which is received interfaith coalition I don't know everybody but I know
Rick and they were powerful for discrimination and also I would like to
applaud the elders who had the courage to bring this forward and yourself your
state it was a beautiful statement that you made so that's I guess the first I
took me about 15 seconds so with that I support all of it it's all very good it
creates the culture of support in the city it shows that the city in spirit
supports immigration there are immigrants and I think that that's
beautiful and but what I would like to say that the last statement on the on the
resolution I think that needs to be changed it says it's it's a caveat it
says enforcement is limited I think that needs to be struck struck or stricken
or it needs to be say this will be enforced this is the law and along with
that I think there needs to be posted all over the city people's rights so you
have four different point I think four different areas they need to be put on a
number one posted in stores in public places what are the rights what
what the what the law says and we're seeing as it relates to what ICE can
do and what they can't do where they can't go what resources will be used and
what resources can't be used I think that's very important secondly the word has
to get out and it should get out to the immigrant community or to all the whole
community everybody this is a threat to everybody not just immigrants they pull
everybody over if you look like an immigrant they're gonna arrest you they're
gonna they're gonna grab you and they've had they've has so many many people
who are not immigrants or who are not Latino so I think that's important the
other thing is I think there needs to be you need to work to make this work you
have to have discussions with the with the governor you got to talk about the
National Guard also I would look at the question of voting there's gonna be
there could be serious harassment at the voting polls this may require the
National Guard to come in so there's a lot that needs to be done I have two
seconds thank you
and our speaker will be Linda Boyd
my name is Linda Boyle 585 5 Kinsey Avenue other groups work with us besides
received interfaith Lulak youth Park teachers the Union and so forth good
evening thank you for hearing and listening to us about this important
ordinances I'm here to urge you to adopt the ice out ordinances that protect our
neighbors defend constitutional rights and make clear that our city will not use
local resources to support fear based immigration enforcement I speak as
co-chair of immigration task force for Rick also for members of our 26 member
churches and organizations when I speak today this is not an abstract issue when
federal immigration enforcement enters a community through raids intimidation
or cooperation with local agencies the harm reaches far beyond the person
targeted parents stop sending children to school workers stay home survivors of
domestic violence hesitate to seek help witnesses become afraid to call police
the result is not safety it is silence fear and isolation local government does
control its own values resources and public safety priorities and ice out
ordinance tells residents that city property city staff and local authorities
should not be used to carry out civil immigration enforcement except where the
law truly requires it it draws a bright line between community safety and
deportation operations these ordinances are also about trust every
resident should be able to report a crime ask for help attend a public
meeting use a library view of park visit a park take a child to school or seek
medical care without wondering if the interaction could put their family at
risk public safety depends on cooperation between residents and officials if people
are afraid of local government or any government all of us are less safe so
these ordinance matter they are backed by policy clarity and courage a public
vote a vote by you tells immigrant families that they are part of this
community it tells local workers students parents business owners faith
communities and neighbors that their city sees them and will not abandon them the
time to set the policy is now this tyranny will end eventually and we want
to be on the right side of history a vote for this is to say clearly that this
city belongs to all of us everybody's in nobody's our next speaker is
Naoki Nakamura I'm sorry so sorry hello my name is Naoki Nakamura I live on
333 Lake Avenue in Racine I came to the United States in 1977 and I became a
citizen in 2014 so I am a first generation immigrant and I don't know I don't
look maybe Caucasian and so no I have been my wife has been very concerned
whether I would be subject to any sort of a high stock budget so on being detained
maybe saying the wrong thing or looking at somebody the wrong way so I speak on
behalf of all of the other people who may not look like no native American
US citizens and so on who have to live in constant fear that they may be harassed
and subject to detention and other rough shots you know that I've seen on TV so
I appreciate their food that the city is making to reassure us that not everybody
is against us that we have at least a somewhat safer place to live and so I
brought all of you for supporting this effort thank you
next person we have a Joe last initials us from 1929 East Sirens Street
hello thank you Mayor Mason thank you council my name is Joe sex hour I'm
staff for Racine Educators United and our union is deeply concerned with
immigration enforcement activities in Chicago Los Angeles and Twin Cities we
have consulted with them in preparation for what we hope is not not coming and
are very encouraged and heartened by the efforts of the city I don't have the
eloquence of this boil but I do appreciate everyone's time and encourage you to
vote yes just before we call the next speaker I just wanted to acknowledge I
have two former educators in the audience Phil Leiden who taught me American
history in seventh grade and Tammy Hayward taught me world history and my
junior and senior year in high school so if you like the actions that I'm
taking you know give them some of the credit if you don't like the action
I'm taking it's entirely my fault but I just wanted to acknowledge to my former
educators that are in the room the clerk please call the next speaker
Mary I'm sorry with the last name so I'm so sorry
Ronik thank you I don't care how you pronounce my name I am just so grateful
to all of you for initiating this legislation and letting us know that
every citizen in this city is important and you're going to support us I just
wanted to say thank you
next speaker will be Diane Lee
good evening my name is Diane Lang I live at 2908 Ruby Avenue I'm speaking in
favor of the ordinance being proposed tonight I personally come from immigrant
ancestors from Germany England Scotland and Switzerland all pretty much white
people who have immigrated and built a life I'm sympathetic to brothers and
sisters from around the world who are also trying to immigrate and make a good
life I share particularly deep concerns about the current cruel policies of our
federal government the immigration and customs enforcement officers especially
are following very few rules they're ignoring due process they're being cruel
they are breaking up families they're terrorizing communities this blatant
disregard for human rights and due process is alarming it's disgusting so I
salute the fact that people have come together and put together with the help
of our city attorney this proposal that's well thought out and that offers some
protections I support this ordinance because it has specific prohibitions
under chapter 63 section 4 that defines how city property cannot be used to
stage or process immigration enforcement for civil matters I specifically support
the prohibition under chapter 63 5 that prohibits mask use by law enforcement
with the exceptions that are mentioned so I believe that without this there
will be increased racial profiling going on there will be increased mass
deportations realizing that it's more than immigrants that can be impacted by
what is happening at our federal government there are different religious
groups being targeted there are religious groups and gender people being targeted
there are different schools being impacted in particular so just thanks
again and I hope that this passes and that we can work on restoring or maintaining
public trust thank you
next week I'll be AJ Zizinski you were so close thank you hi my name's my name's
AJ Zizik I am a veteran Racine educator of 21 years and I currently serve as the
president of Racine Educators United I am here tonight speaking as an individual
in favor of this ordinance I believe that how a city treats its most vulnerable and
needy says a lot about its character if we as a city want to show that we are
compassionate and caring then there's no better way than standing up to an
unlawful agency of masked thugs who invade communities and tear apart families
imagine as a student trying to do your best in a classroom while soldering the
uncertainty that you and your family and loved ones could be unjustly separated
at any time imagine as a teacher trying to do your best at your job not knowing
whether or not a student would one day just disappear from your class roster
families and businesses thrive in communities where they know they are
safe and cared for and that's what this ordinance does I want to echo what a
previous speaker said Racine needs to be on the right side of history on this
this body's legacy depends on it make the right choice and passes ordinance
next speaker will be Carl Harbor
good evening Mayor Mason City Council members my name is Carl
Harbor I reside at 1306 phase Avenue in Racine I am here to speak in support
of chapter three of the ordinance I feel it is a valuable document in that it
provides necessary clarification and guidance to our law enforcement
administration and our law enforcement officers I'm speaking as an individual
but I have served for seven years and currently served as a member of Racine's
Police and Fire Commission so I feel that that kind of clarification is
important for our offices I also feel that it is important that we have a clear
understanding of how city funds will be used regarding ice enforcement
procedures and policies and perhaps most important I feel that this ordinance
will send a clear message to all of the residents of Racine that our immigrant
community is not some separate community somewhere else our immigrant
community is the Racine community and they are
highly as city residents who contribute greatly to our economy and to our culture
and furthermore they are our friends and our neighbors thank you for considering
this ordinance
next speaker will be Mike Frontier
good evening and thank you allers for your courage and serving recently I
went to Chicago Museum of Science Industry and saw the Anne Frank exhibit
a replica of the room and while very powerful you left their feeling what
was the fear like in that young lady and I sense the fear here in Racine my
friend Mario Martinez tells me people are actually building safe rooms and
Frank rooms in their home I read in New York Times recent I'm sorry Atlantic
Jonathan Blitzer both Blitzer's son describing the detention centers let me
quote the lack of preparation made the conditions intolerable toilets wouldn't
flush running water came sporadically the detainees ate and slept next to the
bathrooms fed and water leaked into the dining area and under the beds since we
are not giving anything to mop up the dirty water we have to use our own
underwear and socks a Cuban detainee said he had pleaded with the guards to let him
the others go outside for recreation 15 days passed before the men were allowed
to leave the tent and then only at night I've not seen the sun for one month these
are intentionally terrible unbelievable situations to intimidate our people
who are undocumented for self-deport in our congressman who funds this is
complicit in these awful settings we're putting our people in as I left the Anne
Frank I was with some the Flushinsky's and they said people had to know about
this I am so proud of this community for knowing about it and taking action at
this city level here finally I was over at Amaya's church where they were
teaching the parents how important is to tell their kids there are kids know
their addresses case they come home tomorrow from school and mom or dad or
grandma isn't there how do you teach kids living in that kind of fear is this the
America we create after 250 years and again this community that's rising up
and say we're all sacred is attempting to address this really it's a legislative
issue we're attempting to a legislative at this level the federal government
has to come up with just policies that honor these tremendous people that
serve our community again thank you for your willingness to bend history and
serve the great people that make up the city receive
next next speaker will be Maria Maldonado
I want ice to identify themselves I don't know when I saw and I went to feed
Carl my neighborhood that took a little boy from his home later I learned it was
ice thank you for this good
next speaker will be Maria Hernandez
I know my my dad bring me here and I'm January of 1979
and I feel happy for that I learned a lot of things I speak a little bit of
support echo is the language my dad they speak to us and he wants to learn it
up only I can tell you suck she then means good afternoon or how are you doing
oh good afternoon there's the only one I remember after that I get a little baby
now he's almost 40 years old and he's death now I live in ABCD I spell for him
but he's so smart he's taking care of his mom and then
there's what I say thank you so much for the government it's for us to be here
but I feel bad and watching TV how I try in the comment in the comment people
said thanks God I got my my CV sent cheap and this what I said thank you for
support us to be United States thank you so much it's a nice place to live thank
you very much
next speaker is going to be Diana Valencia
yeah okay that's okay just wait wait right here I thank you all for taking the
time and helping thank you I thank you for all the work you had to all have
been doing this proposal especially for I was born and raised here so I have a
lot of friends and family that are in this type of situation so each and every
part of this ordinance is extremely important to keep our community safe I
encourage you all to continue to to move this forward I know other cities and
other states are having troubles with ICE and they have this ordinance but I
have to say this if we don't try to do something to protect our families and
friends here in our community why are we doing this why are we here so please
stay courageous be brave and move this forward and vote yes thank you
next speaker will be Tom Binger
good evening ladies and gentlemen my name is Tom Dinger I live at 3817 Haven
Avenue I'm a homeowner and a taxpayer in the city of Racine my children go to
public school here in the city I am currently a member of the police and
fire commission I've been a member for six years I'm currently the president I've
also been a prosecutor for almost 20 years but I'm speaking as a personal
capacity tonight over that time I've gotten to get to know a lot of
dedicated and honorable law enforcement officers I consider integrity and
transparency to be critically important values in law enforcement the public
cannot trust officers who lack these qualities and those individuals have no
place in law enforcement I have three things to say about the proposed
ordinance that we're discussing here tonight number one ice has been
identifying and transferring inmates from our prisons and jails and deporting
them for over 20 years these raids that ice is committing in various communities
are not needed to reduce crime number two this past May the nonpartisan Brookings
Institute studied the impact of these raids on local communities and found
that they harm the economies in the cities where they take place Racine does
not need that finally until ICE agents demonstrate the training
professionalism and transparency that we require from Racine Police Department
officers they do not deserve to use our taxpayer funded resources the civilians
on the police and fire Commission interview all candidates who seek to
join the Racine Police Department and we receive updates on their training
before they become officers the Racine Police and Fire Commission also
oversees disciplinary actions against those officers Racine police officers
must undergo rigorous training in the academy and on the job they wear body
cameras and they're held accountable for their actions in contrast ICE agents
wear masks and hide their identity they do not wear body camps and they've
demonstrated inadequate training on respecting the constitutional rights of
citizens and the use of deadly force they also actively obstruct efforts to
hold them accountable by the media the legal system and local investigators our
community deserves better we would devalue and undermine the high standards
that we hold Racine Police Department officers too if we allowed ICE agents
to use Racine's taxpayer resources thank you
next speaker will be Cheryl Miller
my name is Cheryl Miller and I would identify myself as a member of Saint
Patrick Church of which the majority of our members are Hispanic legal or not
yesterday someone I had worked with on a committee for a year told me that for
six years she and her husband had been working on their immigration papers they
had an appointment in Juarez and he was deported leaving her alone with the
three sons and she also told me of another woman who ought to fear deported
herself just yesterday I myself lived in Nicaragua for five years I was there
during the Sun and Easter Revolution in 79 I know what it's like to stand on the
corners in Guatemala with military men just there surrounding me I know what
these fears are our friends live in Evanston Illinois they showed us pictures
from their house when ICE was near the school of their granddaughter my best
friends are not documented I have stood in for them as a parent when their son
graduated from the National Guard I stood in as a parent accompanying their
children to Mexico to visit their families to know their grandparents their
aunts and uncles and cousins I wanted to echo something I heard Cory Mason our
mayor say one day immigrants are welcome and receive I totally support these
ordinances I know they're not going to solve all our problems but at least they
will protect the people that we love and respect so please please support the
members of our community who are suffering at a free thank you next speaker
will be done Miller
actually my wife stole this show as she often does but I too have been a member
of St. Patrick's since 1979 and have suffered with the Hispanic community in
many ways in terms of their dignity and their lack of acceptance and I'm really
applaud what the mayor and those working with him have done in this ordinance I
realized that many of you may not have had experiences you may not know anyone
who has ever been deported as my wife said we have I lived and worked as a
missionary in Colombia for five years I've also seen that but as director of the
worldwide mission office for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee I was also in El
Salvador and saw what a government a military government does to the people
so I just want to speak on behalf and applaud what you are doing here and I
just realized that families the family is the base of our community and if we
don't have families together this woman that Cheryl just talked about I just was
in tears when he she told me that yesterday because this woman and her
husband were part of couples developing their marriage and working with other
couples to do the same thing in our parish community is this what we want to
do take these people who are committed to God and family and send them let them
live in fear live let this mother the agony she has she doesn't know where to
turn whether to move to Canada to move to the to the border to be close to her
husband it's hard to be a single parent so thank you for your listening
next week will be Natal Ortiz
hello I am Natal Ortiz I am a teacher here in our USD I am also a community
member and union leader but today I'm here to just speak as as a resident and
community member first I want to say thank you to the mayor and other
collaborators on being responsive to concerns of residents in the community
who are living with a heightened sense of fear as a result of immigration
enforcement as a teacher I see the impact that this type of fear has on
students and families that I work with who are worrying about the safety of
their family friends and community members in the face of cruel treatment
by immigrant immigration enforcement officers that we've seen all across the
country I've worked in schools in our USD that are dual language schools and
have come into contact with students that are immigrants not of their own
choosing these are kids that don't deserve this kind of fear these are
people in our community that deserve to feel safe and that's why I'm supporting
these ordinances and encouraging you all to do the same thank you
next week will be Greg Petro
thank you my name is Greg Petro and I live at 45 16 5 mile road I'm a lifelong
resident here born and raised in Racine I'm a deacon in the Catholic Church and
I fully support this what the council is trying to do and I hope that the full
council does I think one of the one of the things that the church does is it
helps us to purify our reasoning especially when it comes to moral and
ethical issues and I think the church has talked about this stuff for a long time
and scripture does too when people are vulnerable when people are in need it is
our obligation to help it is our obligation to to to lift them up to come
together as community and most of these people my understanding is they're
fleeing violence they're fleeing terrible situations in their countries and I
think that any of us given the same situation would would probably flee some
of those terrible horrendous situations so I really urge our city to be
consistent with scripture with our with our better nature to help people when
they're in need and to to do the right thing and I think that's that's what
you're doing thank you very much
Tanya Chavez
Hello there I'm Dania Chavez 1128 Lewis Street my name is Tanya Chavez I am a
DACA recipient I was brought to this country when I was two years old I've
been living in Racine for about 13 years now my mom self-deported
approximately a year July 18 now I have a little brother he's 12 years old who
was taken with my mom and it's been hard I work with the Vos as a la
frontera it's hard taking a day by day when it's this personal when it's my
family members I work with the youth and hearing these stories that are so so
personal to me art it's very hard to take a day by day so I'm here on behalf of
Vos as a la frontera in support of chapter 63 this ordinance is incredibly
important because it makes it clear that city resources should be used to serve
the people of Racine not to carry out federal immigration enforcement
I've also we work with immigrant families workers and young people every
day we know the fear that many families live with and we also know that when
people are afraid to interact with local governments or report crimes because
of their immigration status our whole community is less safe and I live that
reality every single day it is very hard to convince family members my own
family members of this when there's so many horror stories in the streets that
people that we know on a personal level have lived how do you convince those
people chapter 63 helps build trust it tells families that Racine is committed
to protecting its residents using its resources responsibly and making sure
local government is focused on serving the community this is about accountability
transparency and making sure everyone feels safe access accessing city
services sending their kids to school or simply living their daily lives without
unnecessary fear on behalf of Vos as a la frontera we urge you to support
chapter 63 and continue making Racine a city where all families feel welcomed
respect respected and safe I really hope you take this into consideration today
thank you
and our last speaker for today will be Jose Palacio
thank you and good evening Jose Palacio's two thousand Kearney Avenue after
listening to all the other previous speakers like I'm glad that some of you
have been moved by these personal stories I was gonna rattle off a bunch of
information regulations with all those things that have been going on right
now but it seems like what seems to motivate or touch people especially and
humanize them are these personal stories and these personal stories as I think of my own
my own family which came here you know when 70 years ago and became an established
residency in Racine you know they were a close-knit family and they relied on
each other for support and for a lot of things as time went on that community
they they expanded their community with other people in the in Racine area
and they got to know people and people got to know them and relied on them for
a lot of assistance they became farm workers for local people in in Racine
well I don't know if any of you have ever heard of Wallace Piper and his family
but they became farm workers for Wallace Piper that and then the extended family
also became workers and became very close to each other to the point that after they
passed away they still remain in very close communication but recently all the
activities that have been going on in Racine area my parents have already at
their age my dad's going to be 90 my mom's 87 you know they live in fear
and they've gone to the point of carrying their birth certificates with them to make
sure that if they do get stopped by ICE and they're they're still very independent
very mobile even though I go over there every day and take care of them they
they are afraid that one of these days they're going to get stopped and they're
going to go through that whole episode or the whole trauma of being detained
and they don't want that to happen a community that lives in fear is not
going to grow it's not productive so I appreciate and I hope that you vote
for this the residents and by the way Lilac National is an agreement with
the ordinance and and some of the things that are written they're very very similar
in the legislative the legislative platform so thank you everyone good night
thank you this concludes the public input portion of today's meeting now we go to
the item itself which is item 0665-26 at this time I would entertain a
motion to approve and then we can open it up for discussion
I'll order Alan push your button first
Alderman would you like to make a motion I'll make a motion to approve
it's a motion to approve alderland seconds and now we can have discussion
Alderman you did make the motion first did you want to speak to your motion
and thank you Mariah too I want to say thank you to everyone who came out and
shared your stories maybe think about a few other that I have of my own but
I'm not going to share any of those I just want to talk about when I first
came to Wisconsin now I have family that is a dual citizenship
I have family that live in so obviously that means they live in other countries
but I was born and raised in California and I moved from California to Chicago
and I moved from Chicago to Kenosha Racine and when I moved to Kenosha
I had to go and get my my driver's license and I remember that it was
supposed to be so easy to do my husband who was my fiance at the time
his brother and I ironically were both moving from Illinois to Kenosha at the same time
and the process was supposed to be where you go to the DMV take your lease and
a bill with your name on it and ID from Illinois you're supposed to get your new license
well it didn't work out that way for me because I was in line and I was talking on
the phone to one of my cousins and I was speaking in Spanish so when I got to the
front of the counter they said that I could not get my driver's license and I said why
and they said well because you need to prove that you were born in this country
and I was like what and they were a dammit I asked this you know I did my whole let me speak
to the manager got me nowhere and so I had to send away from my driver's license
and they were not shy in telling me you know why that was over 10 years ago and so much
has happened I was teaching last year and there was a little boy and he just all of a sudden
stopped coming to school and nobody knew where he was and no one could give us any information
so they were deported and it was so awful for them
I'm proud to live in a city and serve in a moment when we realize how dangerous it is
all of us and I want to thank the people that I serve with and please forgive me because
you just don't know some of the things I've heard and some of the things I know people that I
know near and dear are experiencing right now and so again thank you for coming and sharing
your stories thank you for allowing me to serve at a most important time is this
other land yes I would like to thank the public see speakers for coming out here and
sharing with us I really appreciate your input and I'd like to thank mayor for bringing this
forward and the city's attorney and his office for writing what I think is a very solid
proposal and I do support this I just wanted to say I'm supporting this ordinance
thank you
I did want to mention there's been several references to gratitude to the city attorney
and the city attorney's office for their help in crafting the agenda I also wanted to
acknowledge obviously Scott Ledney who's your city attorney but also attorney Matt Piers who
was really involved in writing a lot of these uh ordinances as well so I just wanted to acknowledge
his work in that space as well um alder hermit thank you mayor
for god has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and a sound mind
second Timothy one and seven I am so proud to see so many educators and Christians here tonight
who are advocating for the vulnerable human beings that are being targeted by ICE the people who I
am very proud to see here tonight Diana Angelina Cruz Linda Boyle Tammy Hayward Mike Frontier
Diane Lang all of these individuals I know personally have been there for students
for residents and for people and I am very very proud to say that I know these individuals
the fear is real the fear is constant I recently was speaking to a former aldermen
who is self-described as an educator and a minister and he informed me that children come to him
and they say that they're scared they're scared of being deported they're scared of being targeted
and he said were you born here and they were like yes and he said you shouldn't be scared but they are
and the fear is real and cruelty to one is cruelty to all and so when we don't stand up
and when we don't speak we are complicit and I am so proud to know that there are so many
people in racing that aren't complicit so I support the ordinance I support the mayor
and I support every person who also supports the vulnerable thank you all for being here thank you
mayor
other people thank you Mr. Mayor being one of the last commentators I won't repeat what's been said
but again thank everyone for giving us input and expressing your concerns your fears and
letting us know how the community feels about this issue and I will also be in support of it
and I also thank the mayor and the city attorney's office and all the other people who have worked
diligently on this thank you thank you
I'll keep a brief as well but I want to thank everyone for coming out tonight
sharing your voice if you can't tell from my name gens jorgensen it's a very Danish name my
great-grandparents and my family tree immigrated to the United States from Denmark
and I am proud of a Danish descent
I also I'm not originally from Racine I was born outside Janesville a group in Janesville
I moved to Racine it was was taken aback by how welcoming of a community it is how there's
plenty of people here who weren't born here but are just as much of a part of the community as
anyone else here and so I want to thank everyone for coming out and being a part of this this
moment tonight thank you so I too really want to thank members of the public for coming and
offering their input oftentimes we are the best legislators and mayors when we hear directly
from people and it helps shape the policy that we're working on you know we can get into the weeds
on how the words are crafted and what it means and how it'll work but as we heard from our last
speaker this is really about stories about human beings and how these policies affect people's
lives in the real world I first became interested in thinking about whether or not the city needed
to have a policy on this when my daughter earlier this year came home from school and said dad one
of my friends wanted to know if the city is going to deport her grandmother and it was such a jarring
thing for me to hear because the city doesn't do deportation and immigration but it was just
this reminder that people just seek government as one big thing they don't make these distinctions
and I began to think whether or not this was something we should begin to have a conversation
about I do have several thank you so I wanted to just throw out here one is to stay representative
Angelina Cruz who's been a great partner in this process and helping to organize people and bring
people together and then members of Ulak and Rick in REU and the members of the police and
fire commission who are here today thank you but I also just want to say this is a great reminder
of how collective action can really work together to help people in our community especially the
most vulnerable so thank you to all of you for being here before we go to vote just a couple
residual things I want to make sure that everybody understands this is not the end of the process
this is a committee vote on Wednesday of this week at six o'clock the city council will meet and
it'll be on the agenda there as well for council meetings people can come and offer public comment
again for three minutes on any topic that's on the agenda so if you want to have your voices
heard in that place you may want to come back at that point all 15 members of the council
will be present and be asked to vote on this ordinance the other thing procedurally I was
asked ahead of time by a couple of you if you could be listed as co-sponsors of the of the
ordinance here if you are one of those people who wanted to be listed as a co-sponsor please
press your button and I will acknowledge you now I have alder Pete Harman land in Allen
who've all asked to be listed as co-sponsors of this legislation
thank you very much for that if there's no other discussion I'm going to ask the clerk to call the
roll and when I do again this is for item 0665-26 communication sponsored by Mayor Mason alder
Weiss an alder pebone and how alder is Pete Harman Allen and uh today mr reels and land
and this is regarding a proposed ordinance 004-26 and immigration enforcement here in the city
of Racine when the clerk calls your name please vote as you wish
Mayor Mason alder land alder Harman alder pea alder durgison alder Allen motion passes unanimously